Bright Times
by fluffypuppiness
Summary: -Part 2 in a series- Her eyes were bright. He'd hadn't seen eyes that bright since he was a child. Untouched by the wastes, but underneath was a pain that he saw when he looked in a mirror; Maybe learning how to move on meant having someone to share that hurt with. A Female Sole Survivor x MacCready fic. MacCready POV.
1. Still shy?

**AN: **Hello everyone! We're back with part 2! I hope everyone is having a lovely summer and enjoyed their month! I'm excited to be back and working on this. I'm so happy to be back guys you have no idea! If this your first time reading, this is part 2 in a series, with part 1 called Bright Eyes. Anyways I'll quit nattering, and here's part 2.

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MacCready woke up slowly, his body trying to fight being alert. Eventually, consciousness won, and MacCready slowly opened his eyes.

It took a moment to place where he was; the stone roof was unfamiliar, and the slight smell of mildew, then he felt his arms wrapped around someone. The memories came back quickly.

The fight, the Queen shrieking, mirelurk hatchlings running at them, Anne getting slammed into a wall, the blood, and then the feeling of her skin under his fingers, the feeling of her muscles rippling.

_Oh yeah, that happened._

He ran his hand down her stomach, feeling the soft texture. He buried his face into her hair, smelling the blood from yesterday, and the slight smell of flowers underneath. He didn't want to get up, but he knew he had to. If he laid here things would only get worse. Slowly he pulled himself away, feeling colder every inch he moved. He dressed quickly, forcing himself to not get back in the bed. As soon as he was presentable, he glanced back at Anne.

The woman laid facing the wall, the blanket tucked close around her. You couldn't even tell that yesterday she had her skull cracked open. They needed to stop doing that; almost dying. That was a conversation for later though, for now he wanted to find something to eat.

Upon exiting the room MacCready could see small bits of sunlight streaming into the castle, in a deep orange, and the castle was silent unlike it had been yesterday. He made his way to one of the doorways and stepped out into the cold morning.

The sun was barely up, and the sky was still stained orange, red and purple at night tried to stay in the sky. Even though it was early, the castle was awake; Preston stood in the center of the yard, speaking to some people, and MacCready could hear people hammering away where the hole was. He sighed to himself, knowing he had to speak to Preston again, even if he really _really _didn't want too.

Slowly he approached the small group, this time waiting until he saw the people start walking away. He noticed as soon as Preston thought no one was looking his shoulders seemed to slump, and his body went from the stiff man to a tired looking one. He felt bad for Preston, maybe he had judged him to harshly, he didn't know the guy after all. Slowly MacCready approached, before clearing his throat.

Quickly Preston turned, "MacCready, how's the general?" Preston was once again the stiff solider man he had been seconds ago as if nothing had happened.

"She woke up last night for a while. She's sleeping now, but I was just going to bring her breakfast...if there is any."

Preston rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, in the kitchen, it's through that door," Preston pointed at the archway to the left of MacCready, "I'll send Jan to check on her."

"Uh, okay. Thanks." MacCready said and Preston nodded, turning back to the table. MacCready quickly walked away. Preston was clearly stressed out, and MacCready didn't want Preston to decide to ask him for help, MacCready had enough on his plate. He made his way into the castle again, looking around before smelling the cooking down the hall. He made his way down, hearing the sounds of chatter, and metal. He entered a small room, where two people sat a table, and another was cooking. The cook looked up at him.

"You're the guy with the general right?" the cook asked. MacCready nodded. The man gestured towards the coffee pot.

MacCready walked over, seeing a small stack of mugs. He quickly grabbed two, poured some coffee and walked back to the cook, who gestured to two plates beside him, with some mirelurk egg omelettes sitting on the counter. It took a bit of rearranging, but he managed to get everything in his hands and started making his way back to the room. It was a balancing act, with the plates in each hand, and the coffees on top. He walked slowly and tried to listen if he heard anyone coming his way. When he did he would stop, and the person would make their way past him, often asking if he needed a hand. Finally, he was at the door, though he had no idea how to get in.

"Do you need a hand?" He recognized the voice and glanced over at the girl.

_Jan, her names Jan._

"Uh, yeah. Could you open the door for me?"

"Of course. Preston asked me to come check on the General." MacCready nodded, made sense. He moved out of the way, and Jan opened the door and the two made their way in.

Anne sat up in the bed, stretching her arms above her head, and the blanket on her lap. Her chest was completely bare, and MacCready felt his face start to heat up. Anne glanced up at the two, and she quickly reached down, grabbing the blanket and pulling it to her chest. MacCready looked away, putting the food down and keeping his eyes on the wall.

_I know how those feel...no stop thinking that._

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude." came the timid voice from beside MacCready.

"No, no it's fine," Anne said and MacCready glanced at Anne. The two women started talking and MacCready sat down in the chair, resting his face in his hands. He could hear Anne explaining her head hurt a bit, but that she felt fine other-wise. That was a relief to hear, especially after...last night. He heard mentions of scars, Anne just waved it off. Soon Jan was on her way out the door, going as fast as she could.

The door shut and MacCready glanced at Anne from across the room between his fingers. She smiled at him before dropping the blanket and standing up. There was more light now, he could see more of her body. He felt his mouth go dry and he looked down in his coffee.

"Still shy?"

"No. Just-" he let out an aggravated sigh, "I know if I look at you I'm going to want to touch you...and that's just."

"What's wrong with that?" his head shot up at that remark. Anne was pulling her shorts on, still not fully dressed though. His eyes lingered on her chest before he dragged them up to her face.

"Prestons waiting for you, and I don't want him to decide to check on you." he raised his coffee to his mouth now taking a sip. It wasn't hot anymore, but it got his mind off Anne, who had her shirt on now.

"I guess you have a point." she sat across the table from him, tucking a few unruly strands of hair behind an ear, and then took a sip of the coffee making a face at it, but saying nothing. There was silence for a bit, as MacCready tried to think of something to say. Finally, he couldn't and rubbed his temples.

"I'm not good at this," he mumbled.

"Good at what?" he glanced up at Anne, who was eating her omelette, smirking slightly.

"This! I mean," Anne cocked her head slightly, her neck looked long, "I mean do we talk about it?" he tried to get the idea of kissing her neck out of his mind.

_But I really want too._

"Do you want too?"

"I don't know?!" MacCready said shaking his head, looking down at his omelette.

"How about we save that discussion for when we're back at Red-Rocket tonight?" Anne said, and MacCready started eating.

"You want to get back tonight?" Anne nodded from across the table, leaning back in her chair.

"Yeah, get this done, and hopefully we can get back before dark." Anne smiled slightly and MacCready shook his head.

"Honestly if we can go a day without getting knocked unconscious I'd count that as a win," he muttered and Anne let out a laugh that made a smile pull on his face and he and Anne smiled as they sat across the table as if they had done it a million times before

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**AN: **short first chapter. I'll see you all next monday :)


	2. Please Robert

Anne finished changing, and the two of them walked out of the room. People didn't seem to notice the two walking by, there was too much work to do to stop and talk to the general. Eventually, they reached the middle of the yard, Preston was sitting at a desk but pulled himself up quickly as soon as he noticed Anne.

"General! How are you feeling? Are you feeling okay?" Prestons normal robotic voice had a worry in it. MacCready couldn't honestly blame the guy, seeing someone you care about skull get cracked open is never something you can stay calm about.

"I'm fine Preston, MacCready took care of me last night," he looked at the ground, feeling his ears burn and a smile tug on his face, "And thankfully I'm much better. That Doctor you have, Jan, worked wonders."

"I'm glad your better General. You have my thanks MacCready." he glanced up at the sound of his name and gave a curt nod, trying to keep the snicker behind his lips.

_You have no idea what you just thanked me for._

"What can I help with?" Anne asked, and Preston looked around. MacCready didn't know why it was taking so long; this whole place needed help, everywhere.

"We've got to run some power to the transmitter." he pointed to the large radio tower. Anne nodded, and before more could be said they were walking over.

"You ever done this before?" MacCready asked, and Anne glanced up at him, shaking her head.

"Kinda? I mean I've set up the beacons before," she looked at the panel, "once I power this up, we'll be ready to broadcast." Anne turned around, making her way towards the workbench. MacCready rolled his eyes.

"I could've told you that," he called and Anne waved her hand, brushing away his words.

The next hour was him and Anne putting together sheets of metal, wiring things together. A few times he burned his fingers which caused Anne to laugh, until she burned her own fingers. Eventually they had a large generator up and running. He never was much of a builder, but he was pretty damn proud.

As soon as it was plugged in music with a lot of violins and no words started playing through the castle. Anne smiled to herself.

"Perfect."

Preston walked over, a large grin on his face, "Wow! We really did it! I've been watching the Minutemen fall to pieces for so long I just…" he looked around the castle almost as if in awe and then back at Anne, "this is really something." Preston started walking away, Anne followed, which meant MacCready did as well.

"Now we've got to pay off what we started. Bring the whole commonwealth together, and make it last this time." The Prestons voice was earnest, he truly believed in what he was saying, even if it was foolish. Anne followed silently, just watching him.

_That's a lot easier said than done._

"So you know...back to business. But with radio Freedom up and running, we can broadcast alerts to you anywhere, anytime." Anne nodded, looking down at her pip-boy and checking the radio-stations.

"Good, I'll try to keep tuned in. I think we're gonna head back though, my heads still hurting, and I got some stuff to do with tracking my son. You hold down the fort alright Preston?" Anne hadn't even finished the sentence and Preston was nodding. Soon MacCready and Anne picked up their rations and were heading back into the commonwealth.

"So going to tune to your new radio station?" MacCready asked and Anne looked at him, a slight smile on her face.

"Nah, I'm keeping it on Diamond city...but I'll check it every hour." and MacCready laughed. Good, Travis may be annoying but he preferred that over the music the minuteman station was playing.

Three hours of walking went by, with a few run-ins with raiders, bugs, and some dogs. It was mostly quiet though, with Super-mutants shouting in the distance. Anne at some point stopped though and was looking at her pipboy for a while.

"Why we stopping?" he asked, watching Anne chew on her lip.

Anne glanced up at him, then back down, "We have to make a stop at the C.I.T. ruins, just across that bridge. Theirs a courser there, and if we can kill him and get his chip, I can get in the institute." Anne pointed at a bridge, across was a large building. None of the words Anne was saying sounded easy, or promising.

"What's a courser?" He scanned his eyes over the building, not seeing any movement.

"They hunt down run-away synths apparently. They can teleport directly to the institute, and according to that guy I found in the wastes, Virgil, if we can get that we could make a teleporter." all the words that had just come out of Anne's mouth made MacCreadys head hurt.

_Run-away synths? Teleport? _

"What?" was the only word he could muster to express his confusion.

Anne sighed, "We just have to kill the thing and get a piece from it. They teleport too here, so we should be able to find one." Anne said looking at the ruins again. MacCready could already tell there was no telling her no.

"How dangerous is this?" MacCready asked, trying to keep the defensiveness out of his voice, and failing. Anne had nearly died yesterday, and here she was running back into danger.

"I don't know. But this gets me one step closer to my son," Anne took his hand in her own, "Please Robert." he felt his heart melt.

He let out a groan, rubbing his face with his free hand, "Fine. But be careful, please. I can take point. I don't want to go through yesterday again." He looked down at her, remembering seeing her get slammed into the wall.

A sly smile crossed Anne's face, "Well, I thought it was good!" Anne said letting go of his hand and running towards the bridge. He looked at her blinking trying to figure out what she meant.

_You thought getting nearly killed was...oh wait._

"Hey!" He chased after the laughing woman, who was now making her way down to the water. They hoped over some cars, before making their way to the building. Anne paused for a moment, her eyes scanned over windows. MacCready watched her face, noticing nervousness flash past her eyes. She was looking at another step closer to her son, but this was a big step.

"We could come back," he said and Anne looked at him.

"You just want to get back sooner," Anne said, making her way into the building. He hated when she deflected his ideas with sarcasm, but that was something to bring up later, not now.

"Of course I do." He chuckled following behind her, with his rifle in hand. He noticed the music stopped, and instead a low beep was emitting from the pip-boy.

"What is that?" he asked, and Anne glanced back at him.

"It's on the same frequency as the courser to track it. Make this easier." Anne started making her way around the building, her pip-boy beeping. The beeps slowly sped up, but just slightly. They were creeping their way around windows, MacCready now hearing the sound of gunfire from inside it. He was grateful they weren't in there.

They came across a tv, with a two barrels stack on each other, "Modern art." Anne mumbled and MacCready looked at her.

"What?"

"Nothing." She said before making her way past him towards a large wooden gate. Someone had set this up to keep people out, probably people like Anne and himself.

"I'm taking point," he said as he was placed himself in front of her. He heard Anne let out an annoyed sigh.

"Your paranoid." She murmured and he rolled his eyes, and before he could say a witty comeback a raider was walking by ahead of them. He heard them both raise their rifles but he lowered his hand, he waited until the raider stopped moving and he nodded. Anne fired, and it was almost silent as the man's head exploded. Not enough though, as raiders started shouting. The two were running forward, Anne quickly took out a turret, and MacCready was in a fire-fight with another raider.

It didn't take long, but he took a hit too his arm, letting out a yell and making his arm fall too his side. As he raised his rifle too shoot again before feeling something slam into his head. He fell backwards, grunting before looking up at the raider who was pointing a shotgun at his head. His rifle was just out of reach.

"You stupid son of a bit-" the raiders head exploded and he fell backward. MacCready took a moment before Anne ran up, a stimpak already in her hand.

"Thanks." he managed to get the words out as Anne inserted the stimpak. She glanced up at him, smirking slightly.

"We're partners." She said before pulling the stimpak out. They pulled themselves off the ground and looked around. The beeping had gotten faster.

"We're heading the right way," Anne said, making her way forward. They hopped a fence, landing on a road and kept moving forward until a large building appeared. It was almost completely intact, unlike the other buildings in the area.

"I'll bet you ten caps, that's where he is," MacCready said and Anne rolled her eyes.

"I'll lose that bet." She said as they walked up to the doors, which as the pip-boy was beeping faster then MacCready could process Anne switched back to the radio.

"Come on." She said, and they walked in.


	3. Please No

**AN: **This chapter, and the next, are pretty violent guys. If you have a problem with violence I suggest skipping them. Enjoy, hope you all had a good week!

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They walked in, and instantly MacCready noticed a body slumped over in its own blood on a counter ahead of them. From how to was laying it looked almost like it had been shot in the back; were they running away? Or did the courser get the jump on these guys?

"That's a good sign," Anne mumbled as they walked forward. They came around the counter, finding another dead gunner on the ground. Her face was half burnt off in what had clearly been a laser at close range. There were a few more bodies strewn around the lobby, some missing limbs. It looked like they had just missed a blood bath.

It was quiet, something MacCready didn't like; no gunfire, yelling, explosions, anything. The place was quiet as the grave, which meant everyone was already dead. Anne was picking through things and he started towards the doorway, noticing a few more bodies on the other side. After a minute Anne was beside him, and they were making their way up the stairs, where more bodies were laying. How many had this thing taken out?

"The coursers on the second floor. Kill on Sight. Send reinforcements to the lobby in case there are more." came a booming voice over the speakers.

_Oh good, they are still alive._

"Fuck," Anne muttered, pulling her rifle off her back. MacCready let out a long sigh, glancing at her.

"Couldn't be easy." He said and Anne let out a small chuckle.

"Let's get this done." She said, and they continued making their way up the building, waiting for the gunners to come around the corner any minute.

As they continued forward the sounds of the fighting reached them. They could hear the sound of a missile launcher, gunfire, and screaming. The sounds made the difficulty of what they were about to attempt; this was one guy, and they had a missile launcher that seemed to not be doing _anything. _He opened his mouth to shout out to Anne, but instead, Gunners started pouring out towards them, looking at them in surprise. There were five gunners, and two turrets.

"You get the turrets!" He shouted at Anne, not hearing her reply when the gunfire started. The first gunner came running towards him, raising her gun. MacCready was faster though, and before they could even pull the trigger he did, and he watched her jaw fly off, and her eyes fill with shock and then fall over. He knew people were shouting, but he couldn't hear it over the explosion of the first turret, and a bullet flew past his ear. MacCready turned his attention to the person who was firing at him, seemingly missing every shot. Kid was new, clearly had no idea what they were doing and he aimed at the hand, shooting. The Gunner fell backwards screaming and he heard the second turret explode and the kid screaming on the ground. Three More Gunners were hiding in the doorway, one peaked out and it's head exploded. He looked over at Anne, and he noticed a metal shard in her face. He didn't have time to think about it, because Anne was running forwards.

"Anne!" He shouted, chasing after her. He watched as she slammed her bayonet into a gunners face, who would've screamed if the blood wasn't pouring out of their mouth. He turned facing the other one. The woman looked at him, fear in her eyes. She opened her mouth, but before the words could come out, MacCready fired. Her head exploded in a crimson burst. For a moment he felt bad, maybe she was going to ask for mercy, but she had joined the gunners, she knew what she was getting into.

"What's going on down there? How many are we dealing with?" came over the speakers. MacCready turned, wanting to chew Anne out for running into danger, again, but she was already running around the corner though. He could hear the shooting, before hearing an explosion. He came around the corner and saw a fire at the end of the hall, and Anne shooting at the people screaming. He didn't have time to think or plan out a strategy, he just pointed and shot, trying to clear his head.

"The courser is now on the third floor. Reports of the second intruder in the east wing near the courtyard!" came over the intercoms. Anne looked over at MacCready, well injecting a stimpak into her arm where she had a large bullet wound.

_When did that happen?_

"They sound scared." Anne said, tossing the used stimpak on the ground and making their way up the stairs. Two more gunners were at the top of the stairs, pointing at them. They started firing, MacCready taking a shot to the leg, and hearing Anne let out a grunt indicating she had been hit. This didn't slow them down though, and MacCready fired at the one, the first shot missing. The second one hit the guy in the neck, making him fall. The gunner beside was grabbing their stomach screaming, which Anne silenced quickly. The two pushed forward, going a bit slower as they inserted the stimpaks. They walked past the blocked off stair-case, and then went into a small room, where a Gunner stood with his back to them. They were quick, and then the intercom spoke again.

"Barricade stairways and hallways if you haven't already."

They were getting close, or he wanted to hope they were. They walked down the hallway, seeing another fight through the window. There were more explosions, and he watched Anne tense up slightly as she watched. She clearly was feeling like he was; scared.

"We could just leave." He said and Anne glanced at him, shaking her head.

"No. That's one step closer to Shaun." She moved forward and MacCready sighed. He couldn't blame her, not really. If this was Duncan he would do the same thing. Anne ran up to a computer, and as she did the barricades on the windows started coming down.

"Hurry." He muttered and Anne said nothing before he heard the turrets let out a low beep. They started down the bridge. They kept moving forward with everything becoming a blur of explosions, blood and yelling. Pain would course through his body when bullets would hit him, and he would hear Anne shout out sometimes. When the dust settled and they had a moment, Anne placed a stimpak in his hands and already pushing one into her leg. The further up they went the more bodies they were finding, which were losing more and more of their limbs as well. Finally, they reached a room with no more stairs and only an elevator. It was guarded by a few gunners which they quickly took out. Anne was picking through the room, and MacCready was staring at the elevator.

"Guess we know where we are heading," MacCready said and Anne looked over at him, and let out a long sigh.

"Let's pray those guys just happened to lose their legs by accident," Anne said as they entered the elevator. She pressed the button and they started going up. MacCready reached out without thinking, taking her hand in his and giving it a squeeze. They looked at each other for a moment, sharing their fear for a flash before the doors opened. Ahead were spotlights, and a large computer. Anne ran forward, getting to the computer. MacCready watched the lights.

"This is insane," he muttered too himself. This place was like a fortress, the question was just who had built it; the Gunners or the corsair.

"These don't' shut off the lights." She muttered before opening the door and running into a small room. He watched from the doorway as Anne came back around.

"Nothing." She muttered angrily before scurrying her way out. They shot the lights down, and even when they crashed into the ground, no one seemed to hear it. Anne looked at MacCready.

"This is all very ominous." She said and he nodded. They ran ahead, another terminal. Anne had the door it was connected to open quickly. She was in and out fast, shoving rad-x in her pack.

"Nothing. Again," she said annoyed, though it was clear she was terrified; he could see her hands shake slightly. He wanted to reach out, take her hand and just turn away, but he knew there was no changing her mind now. He looked at the stairs. They seemed much more ominous now.

"Only one way." He said and Anne nodded, and they kept going.

They went up to the stairs before reaching the top. Again, there was no one there. After the army they had just gone through, the lack of people up here meant nothing good.

"I don't know the password! I'm telling the truth!" A voice rang out from ahead. Instantly Anne crouched. The voice was scared' begging.

"I don't believe you are." the responding voice was robotic. He didn't need to see it, he knew it was a synth. Anne was sneaking her way up to the terminal on the wall.

"Oh god...please no!" another voice was shouting. There were multiple people in that room. The corsair was holding them hostage.

"No, please, you don't have to do this!" MacCready felt his blood go cold. This was a dead man.

A shot rang out in the silence.

"All he had to do was tell me the password. Now, are you going to cooperate?" the robotic voice said. Even MacCready knew that no matter what they did, the man was dead.

"Oh god. Oh god...Okay okay! Just don't shoot! Let me think!" Anne opened the doors.

They ran forward, and there was another shot. MacCready couldn't even hear what they were saying, he was too busy making their way up the stairs with Anne. Then the Courser said something he did here.

"Are you here for the synth?" MacCready didn't have to see it, he knew the words were directed at them. He looked at Anne, who had turned deathly pale, before raising her rifle again and nodding.

No going back now.


	4. You scared me

Before the fight even started it was a blur. Anne and MacCready were yelling; Anne was yelling at him to get away from the door, and he was yelling that they were taking fire from something. Anne had thrown down a bunch of bottlecap mines at the door, and then made a quick run for the stairs where he was They were aiming at the doorway, but nothing seemed to appear. Then the mines went off. He tried to find a target to hit, but nothing was there. He could see blood on the walls from where the bomb must have hit someone, but nothing was there. He was searching for the courser when something slammed into his head. His body hit the ground, but he managed to raise his rifle in the direction of whatever hit him and fired. Blood went flying from what appeared to be thin air and a low grunt. He'd hit something.

_Stealthboys_

Somewhere Anne was shouting, but he fired three more times, watching the blood continue to appear. He noticed as he continued looking that the space the blood was hitting seemed to shimmer, ever so slightly...then he realized it; that shimmer was the courser. A small smiled spread across his face.

"It will shimmer where he is! He's using a sealth boy!" MacCready shouted out, firing again. This time he didn't hit anything and he backed up, scanning the room for something. Anne let out a loud yell, and he saw her bleeding.

_Left arm, that means he's got to be over there._

After some careful scanning, he noticed the slight shimmer against the wall, and he fired, and when he did blood appeared again. Anne fired after he did, aiming for the same place. He smiled to himself before he saw the blue laser shoot out from where they were shooting and fly at Anne. He glanced over at her, seeing her grab her stomach and yell out. He had looked over for a second, but when he looked back the shimmer was gone.

_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

He looked at Anne from the corner of his eye, seeing her arm now covered in blood as she was injecting a stimpak. She had just injected the stimpak when she let out another yell, and her head flew sideways. He could see the shimmer of the courser above her.

"Anne!" he was on his feet in a second, running at the invisible man and slamming his body into it. It felt like he was hitting a very muscular person, which he had expected too feel more like metal, and less squishy. When he did the stealthboy stopped, and he was toppling onto the ground with a large man in all leather.

"I preferred you invisible," MacCready shouted as he pulled himself away from the courser. He was slow though, and the courser seemed to pull his gun from nowhere and fired. The heat seared through his leg, and he let out a guttural scream. It was bad, it was so bad. It felt like his leg was being held above a fire. He tried to pull himself up but failed. He was trying to figure out what to do when something grabbed his throat and pulled him up.

Air disappeared, and he heard a crack as the corsair held his neck, lifting MacCready up into the air as if he was a child. He pulled at the hands grasping his throat, trying to pry the fingers off even an inch, but nothing moved. The only thing he wanted was to feel the air in his body again, but it was being blocked by this metal man's hand. He thought he could hear shouting from somewhere, but he couldn't be sure. He stared at the face, watching the angry pale man slowly blur. Was he blurring? He stared into the brown eyes, trying to gasp for air when suddenly he fell to the ground.

Air rushed in all at once and he started coughing as he slammed into the ground. As much as he had craved air, now it was almost painful in his lungs. He started coughing, grasping at his throat as he laid on the ground. Sound came back in an instant, and he could hear the sound of yelling. He couldn't lift himself to look, he just laid on the back, waiting for the courser to come back and kill him.

But he didn't.

Slowly he pulled himself up, and it took a moment to process what he was looking at; she had slammed the bayonet on her rifle into the coursers face. He sat there watching, as Anne sat hunched over the body, doing something. He wasn't sure what was happening, but finally, words came back.

"Anne."

She turned around quickly, looking at him; he could see she was covered in blood, and what was her own he couldn't tell. Her eyes were wild, angry, and scared. It took a moment for her to seemingly realize it was him, but as soon as she did her body flung itself around him. He fell backwards, wrapping his arms around her and coughing as she held him.

"You scared me." he heard her voice in his ear, and he rubbed her back.

_I scared me too._

"We'll call it revenge." He said softly and she pulled back glaring at him. He started laughing, but instead, coughs took over, she pulled herself off him, and rummaged through her pack, handing him water. He cracked the tab and started swallowing as much water as he could.

"That's gonna bruise." He lowered the can and looked at Anne. she gestured to her neck. He reached up, touching it and wincing. It already hurt.

_Great._

"We should get what we need and get the hell out of here," he said and Anne nodded, turning back to the body. Anne started working on the body again, and MacCready slowly pulled himself up. The idea of sitting in the room with Anne while she did...that, even if it wasn't really a person, didn't feel right. He walked into the next room.

There were five bodies laying on the ground, most missing heads, or with the holes in them. The tears were still wet on some of the faces, he would've felt sorry for them, but he knew what gunners did.

_You probably deserved this._

"Please! Please let me out!" Came a voice and MacCready's head shot up from the carnage. There was a young woman, her hair was a brown mess and she looked as if she had been crying. She was staring at him, banging on the glass. It took him a moment to find the correct response.

"Anne!"

"What?" Anne said as she came around the corner; her arms were covered in blood up to her elbows, and she was putting a large metallic thing in her bag. He waited until she looked up at him confused before he gestured to the window. Anne looked over at the girl and she walked over slowly.

"He...He deserved to die. I know you're not here for me, but...I can't get out. Not on my own," Anne nodded, looking at the door, "I'm going to have to trust you to help me." Anne's head turned back to the scared girl. MacCready didn't have to hear her answer, he knew what she would do.

"Relax, lady. It's going to be fine." Anne said, a softness coming out in her voice MacCready didn't hear often. The woman's eyes darted between the two of them.

"I guess I don't really have a choice do I?" She said looking up at Anne and shaking her head, "The guards put the password in a toolbox over there under the stairs. Use it to gain access to the terminal and open the door." The girl pointed at the stairs and MacCready looked over. Sure as shit, there a bright red toolbox, sitting right there. Anne started walking over and MacCready followed.

"You sure this is a good idea?" He asked and Anne glanced at him.

"We just killed a courser. I don't think we need to worry about her," she said as she pulled the box to her lap. He sighed walking over to the stairs and sitting down, letting Anne do what she wanted. He rubbed his neck before wincing.

_Forgot about that._

The door opened, and MacCready glanced over as the girl ran out. She was smaller then he had thought, and tears ran down her face.

"Thank you. I don't know what to say." now that MacCready could see her closer this was a kid, maybe a little over 16. Why was the courser going after her? Why were the Gunners protecting her?

"You don't have to say anything. You're welcome." Anne said, pulling out a can of purified water and handing it to the girl. She took it in her small hands and held it. She opened her mouth and closed it while looking up at Anne. She looked down at her feet.

"My...institute designation is K1-8 but I prefer Jenny. So yes, I'm a synth; If you hadn't already guessed."

_Oh, that makes sense._

"I knew they'd send a courser. I just didn't think he'd find me so fast," The girl looked around the room letting out a long sigh, "I think I would've lost him too; But then I was captured by these...mercenaries. And all this happened." She raised her arms, gesturing to the headless men strewn about the room. Anne nodded, glancing at MacCready.

"Thanks again for your help. I'm going to look for supplies before heading out. And before you ask, no, I don't need any more help. The commonwealth is unforgiving. I need to make it on my own or I'm dead," She took a step back, giving a small smile to Anne, "Maybe we'll meet again, under better circumstances. I...hope we do." and with that the girl was gone, running her way out of the building. MacCready watched before looking at Anne.

"She's just a kid," he whispered and Anne looked at him, "Why would they make kids?" he said and Anne shook her head.

"A lot of reasons...none of them good." her words were quiet but heavy. Anne didn't need to explain, he understood what she was saying. She started picking through the room, grabbing ammo off bodies and shaking her head.

"We got what we needed, we can head out right?" He asked and Anne nodded before looking at the top of the stairs, something seemed to catch her eye and started going up the stairs. He looked up, noticing the door at the top. There couldn't be more to this place, it felt like they had already climbed enough.

"I don't think that's the way out." He said and Anne glanced at him, a small smile on her face.

"Come on, I wanna show you something." She said before opening the door and going through. MacCready let out a long sigh before making his way stopped at the closed doors, staring at them before opening them.

When he stepped out the wind hit him, and the light shined down on them. Anne stood further out, her back too him. The light made her hair look bright red, and the wind caught the short strands and spun them around. He took a few steps, suddenly seeing all of the ruined city come into view. The light shined through the buildings, creating odd shadows over the ruins. The sky was a purple-orange colour, with the sun setting and night rolling in. He hadn't realized how late it was. He walked up beside Anne, looking out over the commonwealth.

"This is amazing, I've never seen anything so beautiful." He said seeing the last of the light reflecting in the river. It took the colours and moved them, making it look like paint that had been dropped in, mixing together to create something new. He looked at Anne who was smiling sadly to herself. The purple made the green light up, and he could see the small scars in her face from the fight the other day. She glanced at him.

"The sky never changed." She said softly, sadness in her voice. MacCready reached over, taking her in his arms slowly. She didn't fight, moving with him. Her arms came around him and he lowered his face to hers, and their lips met. Her body was warm, and the last of the suns rays had warmed her leather coat slightly. She pulled away, looking up at him, her hand on his face. Her mouth opened for a moment before closing again. She kissed him quickly before making her way back to the door.

"Come on! Let's head home!" she said and he followed behind her, glancing over his shoulder as the sun slipped beyond the horizon.


End file.
